Today, I receive all God’s love for me. Today, I open myself to the unbounded, limitless, overflowing abundance of God’s Universe. Today, I open myself to your Blessings, healing and miracles.Today, I open myself to God’s Word so that I become more like Jesus Everyday. Today, I proclaim that I’m God’s Beloved, I’m God’s Servant, I’m God’s powerful champion, And because I am blessed, I will bless the world, In Jesus Name, Amen.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

C3 stands for Customer Contact Channel. They are located at One Bonifacio
Technology Tower in Taguig City. And they've been in the country since. They are committed in giving job-seekers and
employers alike something to think about?
C3 is not just another call center company. It infuses energy into the
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry backed by the experience and
the technical knowhow of a team of leaders headed by Andy Sarakinis,
vice president and country manager. In a recent press conference held
onsite, he shared how C3 came about in the Philippines.

C3 or Customer Contact Channels is a global provider of contact center
services unlike any other in the market today. Services include sales,
service, performance optimization, reputation management and complete
customer interaction management via traditional, web, and emerging
communication channels. C3 positively engages and promotes our clients’
brands with every contact we make with their customers. With a global
team that is thousands of employees strong, the company is headquartered
in Plantation, FL.

“I was here in the Philippines in 1999 from South
Florida to test the waters. Before, 70% of the call center agents were
females with the remaining 30% males. Now, it’s 60% women and 40% men.
There’s been a shift in the age in today’s BPO agents where the older
ones are increasing in number. In 2000 alone, 95% were below 30 years
old. To date, there’s an increase in those older than 30, with a few in
their 50s joining the industry. Every one of these agents could rise to
the next level after three months like one of our fast-rising employees
April Torrecampo, who thought she had none of the qualities required of a
call center agent, but proved that her latent skill just needed to be
harnessed," says Sarakinis.

Human Resources director Crystabel Cardenas, who has worked in the BPO
industry with three other BPO firms, added, "A career path with C3 is
equated with opportunities for growth. Globally, about 9 out of 10 C3
employees are promoted from within.

C3 offers above industry benefits to its employees and is constantly
outfitting its human relations policies to fit the needs of its
workforce. Kevin Urrutia, the Vice President of Operations asserts,
“When we talk about pay scales among call centers in the Philippines, C3
is at the 80th percentile - meaning if there are 100 call centers, C3
pays higher than 80 of them.”

“Inexperienced agents, those who have no prior call center experience,
receive P16,000 starting pay. Those with a degree of experience receive
up to P18,000 monthly wage. Plus they receive HMO benefits that they can
share with a family member as long as they remain employed. It could be
for a spouse or child, parent or sibling. Beneficiaries are named and
could be changed at the start of every contract cycle. Lateral transfers
are not done here in Manila yet but in our US branches they do,” she
continued.

She also shared why C3 is literally different from the pyramid hierarchy
of most corporate set-ups. “We are employee-centric and follow the
inverted triangle approach wherein the grievance approach is immediate.
This is made possible through regular supervisory visits. Our focus is
on the entry level; mostly for support people and agents,” she enthused.
Crystabel talks from over 13 years of experience in Human Resources
dealing with fast-paced, rapidly-expanding local and multinational
companies, and it is no mean feat that C3 now is counted as one of the
most effective and productive BPOs in the Philippines.

C3 is definitely making an impact in the Philippines’ customer care
industry with its own brand of performance optimization. Performance
optimization, an element of C3 University, is where re-training for a
new field and/or higher position takes place. It is the ‘silver lining,’
as its mentoring process helps employees climb the corporate ladder of
success in their work life.

C3 University is an on-line training tool wherein an employee undergoes
an aptitude test. Meanwhile, the Cadet-ship Program runs at an average
of three months. The term can be extended depending on an applicant’s
performance and evaluation rating. These promotion avenues provide the
means to step up the C3 ladder.

When C3 opened on Nov 1, 2011, it started with 30 people on opening day.
Now, the employee roster has risen to make C3 one of the fastest
growing BPOs to date, as evidenced by an ever-increasing human resource
inventory and a steady vote of confidence from its serviced clientele.

C3 is also strong on the value that charity begins at home. Cardenas
emphasized that “C3's core values include open communication systems,
accountability and helping the community through our CSR efforts. By
community, we begin with our very own agents. For example, the people
serving our pantry must be related to an employee. And as long as they
have the support and patronage of our staff, they continue serving us
with whatever type of food they make available at the refectory. Also
during the Habagat, a number of agents were trapped in C3 and couldn't
go home because the floodwater in their respective areas was really
high. So our 11th floor recruitment section was turned into a shelter
for them and their families and C3 contingency funds were used for
logistics."

C3’s other international locations include Guatemala City, Guatemala and
Panama City, Panama in Central America; Glasgow, Scotland and Sofia,
Bulgaria in Europe; and Dalian, China and Mumbai, India in Asia. Its
U.S. locations are in Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Texas, with
headquarters located in Plantation, near Miami, Florida.